Costa on covid-19: “Given the will to have non-compliance the rule is: everything closed”

The Government increased this Thursday the list of counties considered to be at high risk of transmission to 191. After the holding of the Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister affirms that “the situation is serious”.

We have an evolution of new cases that is frankly superior to what we had in the worst phase of the first wave. We have a significantly higher number of hospitalized people than the first vacancy. We have a number of people hospitalized in intensive care more than the first wave “, said.

In view of the constant increase in cases, António Costa says that the first days of the new state of emergency, which came into force on November 9 and applies to high-risk counties, are being marked by the population’s compliance with the measures.

The prime minister again referred to the need to deal with the pandemic and to limit the population’s life restrictions to a minimum: “The responsibility of those who have to decide is to seek the balance that ensures that the necessary measures are taken”.

see the list of 191 municipalities at high risk of transmission.

Even though the situation is more serious, António Costa points out that the measures applied by the Government are less intense and aimed mainly at weekends.

Despite this, and according to the Prime Minister, “it is clear that the effort [do Governo] it generated misunderstandings and opened the door to an excess of concentration on exceptions and a devaluation of the rule “.

We have seen a kind of contest of ‘Where is the exception for not following the rule of staying at home?’ “, he stated.

According to António Costa, the Government was thus forced to eliminate misunderstandings, explaining that all establishments will only be able to open between 08:00 and 13:00 of the next weekends, with the exception of pharmacies, clinics and offices, pumps petrol stations and food stores with doors to the street and up to 200 square meters.

In view of the manifest desire for non-compliance, we simply have to adopt a strict rule, and the rule is: at 1 pm, everything is closed “, he reiterated.

The decree-law of the state of emergency is in force until November 23, but the prime minister said that the next Council of Ministers could appreciate an extension of the situation, if that is the will of the President of the Republic, since it will have to be Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa asking for this extension.

At this point, António Costa affirms that “it is unthinkable not to think about a new state of emergency”, reiterating that the measures are “less intense”, but that they can be “more prolonged”.

Even though the measures apply to all the municipalities in force, which are now 191, the Prime Minister explained that the Minister of Health will ask the Directorate-General for Health to schedule, taking into account that the figures presented municipalities are disparate, with cases in which the criterion is exceeded by very little and others that greatly exceed the limit of 240 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants in the last 14 days.

Clarifying the aforementioned “misunderstandings”, the prime minister said that restaurants can only operate from 13:00 for home delivery.

António Costa also announced that there will be a 20% support for the loss of revenue from restaurants on both weekends compared to the average of the previous 44 weekends (from January to October 2020).

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